Raith jolted back as he confirmed what he saw. He shrieked and put more distance between the two of them, a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek as he landed.

‘What the hell was that?’

[An external voice. The link]

‘You’ve been going on with this link thing, what’s it supposed to mean?’

[The influence that is causing an anomaly in this gate. Also, it could be the creature that named this monster]

Raith grimaced. He was standing a little bit bent forward, having just landed so he stood back straight and clenched his sword tightly.

The monster slowly walked forward.

‘What does it mean, I killed its first toy?’

[I have no idea, but that would mean a scenario like this have happened before. You have fought a named monster before]

‘Yes I have. I fought Antares when he was an ant and…’ Raith’s eyes went round as he recalled.

“No way… the green orc dungeon from a year ago. The one where I received a class change!” He exclaimed, truly surprised.

He couldn’t remember the fight to dotting details but he remembered very well that there was a fight like that. One that almost got him killed. Well, he literally died several times so… but let’s just say almost got him killed.

Raith raised his chin.

“I thought then that it was not making any sense. So you are the one that goes around naming monsters and changing gates. Who are you and what is your goal for doing this?”

“Huhuhuhhh…. you dare?”

As if the veil was abruptly taken from the sky, a massive light shone from above, blinding every into a scenery of white. Raith placed his hand over his eyes to shade his sight from the blinding light and looked up.

It wasn’t just some kind of brightness. Magic missiles, filled every inch of the sky and were like a legion of falling comet. They created an obscene ruthlessness as they transverse the distance between the sky and the ground and buried themselves in a destructive dance of upheaval.

“What the…”

Raith watched all his surrounding exploding, he was unaffected, not because his enemy missed. But the blades actively sliced the missiles into nothing, they exploded before reaching him. And to be precise, they made that decision on their own, hovering around him and protecting him from the onslaught.

It’s been like that since attaining sword Intent. Although there was more to sword Intent than causing some bunch of swords to fight on their own.

Raith what now was still naive with the knowledge.

“Oh, so you have grown. Fine. I will let you speak to me since you could survive Missile Shower”

The monk floated towards Raith and stopped, arms crossed behind its back. Its entire presence had changed, this wasn’t the monk and Raith’s sense sharply felt it, along with the urge to get away from whatever was now controlling the monk.

“This skill will not last. I can’t be in this body for long because of the distance between the two worlds. You have limited time to ask your question.”

“Who are you?” His words preceeding with delicate measures.

“Hmm… how do I answer that..”

Raith was still not getting used to hearing a voice come from an eye but he stayed regardless. All his muscles were tensed and on the edge to act to any slight movement.

“I am known as diverse names but I am not a narcissist, it’s a sore thing to begin to reveal to you all my mighty monikers. Lord of the pit, beater of a thousand flames. Terror of the mortal shore. General of the Infernal Horde. The Immolator. Enslaver of the mortal race. Wielder of the soul furnace, you may chose to call me whatever but I take no pride in this titles that people from different worlds have adopted. I am just a man that seeks to find and destroy Bael. And you… you…” His voice seethed, evident that he was trying his best to bite the vexation he felt.

“…you just won’t stop messing with my plan. Why?????”

‘Bael again?’

Furrows appeared on Raith’s brow as his face tightened into a scowl.

“This Bael person. He is a demon right? And he is dead?”

“Bael is not dead!!!” He shouted in defiance.

“Bael cannot die. I know him. That sneaky bastard cannot die, I will be the one to kill him and claim the sit of the first hell for myself.”

One of Raith’s eyebrows lifted slightly, wrinkling his forehead.

“Okay, okay. I sense a lot of deep stuff here and I don’t want to get involve. But what I know is that Bael is dead, he was killed by an angel and I don’t think you should be obsessing over him.”

“You maggot. How dare you speak to me in such demeaning manner. I am the lord of the fourth realm.”

Raith slightly opened his mouth.

‘Now it makes sense why a named monster is insanely strong. He is from Felfhiem. Fourth is quite far up’

Raith lowered his head a little.

“I pay my respect to you. I apologize, I spoke without realizing who you are… why are you so obsessed with Bael?”

“Your words are like that of a snake. You seem clueless yet like the type that serves as a potential danger to my kind. And you have the smell of a demon on you. I assume you have been to Felfhiem before, that is why you know the fourth realm?”

“I have been to Felfhiem before, I have not been to the fourth realm though.”

“Of course. There’s no way you can come here.” The voice paused and continued: “His obsession with the humans annoys me and I want to eradicate every single one of them to pull him out from wherever he is”

“Why?”

“Because I hate him.”

“So what do you do to him when you pull him out?”

“For a mortal, you sure are fearless.”

Raith smiled, lowering his head. He had a gentle countenance, he was almost like a different person.

“I apologize if I irked you in any way.”

“No. I am enjoying this. Besides, I decided to give you audience… since you are strong. I will forgive you for defeating my first toy. I don’t have much time left, I can’t answer your question now but I can tell you. Bael is always scheming something. That demon has lived since the beginning of our existence, he has lived as many things and is unkillable. I know he is somewhere preparing something…”

“…so you want to discover his plan before he hatches it?”

“It goes beyond that. My time is up. I will leave you with a present should you defeat this monster I have created.” The voice chimed lastly as it faded away.

At once, Raith disappeared and appeared afar off. But the monk appeared right after he did – its fist pistoned forward with blinding speed. Raith barely managed to twist aside, the blow meant to crush his skull instead pulverizing the wind.

The monk pressed its advantage, raining down blows on Raith with machine-like precision. He parried what he could, flowing blades clashing desperately from all directions against the monk’s knuckles. But most blows slipped through, battering his body relentlessly.

In a brief respite, Raith swept out with his leg, trying to topple the monk. It nimbly leapt over the strike and stomped down viciously where Raith’s knee had been.

He howled as the joint hyperextended.

Dragging his battered body away, Raith put some distance between them. But the monk easily closed the gap in two bounding steps, hands already blazing with eldritch purple fire.

Raith grabbed and crossed two blades desperately, bracing for impact. The monk’s palms slammed into them like the fists of an angry god. The blades shattered in Raith’s hands, returning to blood droplets that splattered around.

But as they did, Raith straight forth his hand, materializing the droplets into extended blades that plunged into the monk from all side.

Taking unexpected damages, the monster growled and lurched with an intense viciousness. Throwing blurring punches at Raith – yet, Raith managed to keep up with all of its movements. Easily materializing swords from his bloodied body and swinging his arms in the rhythm of the monk’s flow.

His eyes not battering away for a second, glued to every movement, darting all sides, following the monk’s hand movement like it was glued to.

The battlefield echoed with the clash of blades and the ominous growls of the monster. Despite his fatigue, Raith continued to dance with the monk, a deadly ballet of swords and fists.

As the monk unleashed a barrage of strikes, Raith’s blades flickered in and out of existence, parrying and countering with a fluidity that seemed almost supernatural.

The air crackled with energy as their powers clashed, creating a mesmerizing display of black and purple streaks.

The monk pressed on with relentless determination. And Raith continued to match every blow with a precise and calculated response. The ground beneath them trembled with the force of their clash, and the very fabric of reality seemed to strain against the power they wielded.

In a moment of respite, Raith stepped back, his breath ragged but his eyes still focused. The monk, undeterred, charged forward once more. Their movements became a blur, a dance of death that left onlookers breathless–if there were any.

Read latest chapters at . Only